Finding Out About Jenny
by smileyanne
Summary: Kate and Tony are left alone in the bullpen one night after a day of Gibbs being in a bad mood. In result a game of truth or dare takes place, where Tony has an idea. During the game what will they find out about their boss? Not a TATE relationship fic. Set around season two.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: ****I wrote this awhile ago. Even before I started OPERATION: Break the Tension, and it had just been sitting in my doc manager for a while. It doesn't really have a good plot, I just needed to publish it. **

**Now about this little story, it involves Kate, Tony, and... Ducky. Even as I'm writing the A/N I'm still undecided on if I'm going to include McGee and Abby. Totally different topic, have you noticed how different the season 1 & 2 Abby is from later seasons? Personally I like the beginning seasons Abby better, it was before her and the team lost so many people. **

**Warnings: Honestly this should stay K+ but I'm going to put it as T just incase. After all, it does involve Jenny and Gibbs! **

**DISCLAIMER: I sadly don't own NCIS or it's characters :(**

* * *

Criminal's in D.C seemed to have taken a break. No murders, no kidnappings, not even a simple embezzlement charge! And because of this lull in crime Agent's Anthony DiNozzo and Caitlin Todd found themselves alone, on a Wednesday night, in a relatively empty bullpen, working quietly on their reports of the latest investigation... an _attempted _robbery.

For awhile the only sound you could hear was the quiet clicking of the keys as the two agents worked diligently. As the hours ticked on, _Very _Special Agent DiNozzo finished up his report with a final flourish. Use to coming in at all hours of the night, it hadn't been a problem for Tony to finish, even if the clock was approaching midnight. Though as he looked at the woman across from him, the same couldn't be said for her.

Currently Special Agent Todd was _asleep._

Quickly he looked over towards the elevators. Though the precaution was most likely unnecessary, Gibbs hadn't been in the bullpen for hours. Which was a reprieve they were both grateful for. Since lately the ex-marine hadn't been just his usual no nonsense self, the man had become unbearable. So much so that he and Kate had taken to fighting over who would make the usual lunch and coffee runs.

Earlier Kate had told him, that she thought the reason why Gibbs was living up to the 'second B', was because the man was simply exhausted. Although Tony had to agree to that fact, he _had _been coming in with darker circles under his eyes, it wasn't what he thought. Personally Tony thought the reason the Boss was acting like a bastard, was for a reason more painful then a simple tired, something like an _anniversary. _It was what anniversary that had him stumped.

Getting his head out of the clouds, he crumbled up a spare piece of paper from his desk, and looked back towards Kate. After all as Senior Field Agent it was his duty to make sure Katie didn't get caught sleeping on the job. Grinning he propped his feet up on his desk and brought his arm over his head.

Ready.

Aim.

_Fire. _

"TONY!" Oh, yeah that got dear old Kate up. Plastering on his mega watt smile, Tony inwardly hoped that she wouldn't yell at him long. If Gibbs were to have came back and have found Kate sleeping in the current mood he was in, it was just plausible that she would've been fired. No joke.

"Oops, were you sleeping Katie," he said it as sweetly as possible.

"Yes. You saw that I was sleeping. Why did you wake me up?" God, if looks could kill he'd be six feet under. It was time to be serious if he wanted to keep her from yelling at him all night long.

"Alright I shouldn't have woken you up that way. But, think what would've happened if the Boss had come back and saw you sleeping." That seemed to have gotten through to her. He noticed that she really did look tired.

"I guess you'r-," she was cut off in the middle trying to stifle a yawn. Sitting back down at her desk she didn't bothering looking back at DiNozzo, he knew what she was going to say. Even if she didn't like it Tony was right, if Gibbs had come back to find her sleeping her head would've been handed to her on a silver platter. Her thought process was interrupted by another huge yawn. She _had_ to find away to stay awake, and her report wasn't cutting it the words were swimming on the screen. As if he was reading her mind Tony's next words were a grateful distraction.

"You wanna play a game?" At this point Tony was flying by the seat of his pants. He had no clue what game he was talking about, he just knew she was looking for a way to stay awake.

"What game?" Honestly she had a right to be suspicious, it was Tony after all.

"Ummmmm. We could play Truth or Dare?" He didn't know where he'd gotten that idea from, but it was brilliant. It was a game that was interesting enough that it'd keep her attention (if played right), and they could subdue the dares.

"Sure," her voice was full of skepticism. Tony had no doubt that the first sign of a rowdy dare from him and he'd have his ear chewed off for the rest of the night.

In the excitement neither of them paused to wonder at the dangerous truths a simple game could reveal.

* * *

"You wanna go first or should I," Tony said. Sliding his feet off his desk, he swiveled around so he could look her in the face easier.

"I will."

"Alright Katie, truth or dare?" As he spoke, it was like a light-bulb was shining over his head. In a moment of sudden genius he had an amazing idea for a dare. Maybe it would shine some clarity over the situation.

"Truth." Dang it! Leave it to Kate to foil his plans without even knowing it!

"Ok, let me think." And just to annoy her, he started spinning around in his office chair.

_One spin._

_Two spins._

_Three spins._

_Four spins._

_Five spins._

"Tony!" Oopsie, Katie was loosing her patience.

"Do think anyone in the building is hot?" Wohoa. Stopping suddenly hadn't been the best idea. While the dizziness subsided he missed her answer.

"Could you repeat?"

"I said Agent Hassahram."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Everybody knew that Agent Hassahram had a reputation for sweating profusely. Apparently Kate knew it too if her smug grin was anything to go by.

"You never said there were rules." If it were possible Kate's grin seemed to get even bigger. But for once Tony didn't fight her or argue with her, he was in to much of a hurry to get to her next turn.

"I guess that's fair." If Kate was shocked by his giving in she didn't show it. Instead she propped her feet up in a movement that so resembled his previous one, an outsider would've sworn they were related.

"Your turn Tony. Truth or dare?" Somewhere in the back of her sleep addled brain, she vaguely hoped he would choose truth.

"Dare." He wasn't 'suicidal' enough to choose truth. Besides he knew how Kate would use the chance, and that was what scared him.

Disappointed, she had to think for a minute. Then she remembered last week. They had been walking back to their desks from lock-up, when they ran into Agent Annie. She was a young fresh-faced agent that had a not so subtle crush on Tony. Although Tony had turned her down nicely and politely and never encouraged her, on the way back he'd made some comment about how she wasn't his type. And some other sexist, pig-headed crap.

"I dare you to go out for drinks with Agent Annie." Wow, that was NOT what he'd expected her to say. Quickly he tried to find an out...

"What about Rule 12?" At that point Tony had never been so thankful for Gibbs and his rules.

"That's why they call it a dare DiNozzo." Kate retorted with a smile he couldn't help but resent. It wasn't that he didn't think Agent Annie was pretty enough, even though those were the excuses he'd used with Kate that day in the hallway. The truth was that Annie was simply to young for his taste, and that was something he definitely didn't want Kate to know. He'd tried to let her down easy and not encourage the crush, but now it seemed like he had a date with someone who had to be at least ten years younger then him.

"Well then it looks like I have a date," he stated with fake enthusiasm. Which was just enthused enough to fool her.

"Now, Katie back to you," he said in a fake showman's voice.

"Truth or dare." _'Please, please, please, please, pleaseee choose dare.' _

"Hmmmmm. I choose..._dare._" YES! Knowing Kate she had chosen it purposely just to prove she could take anything he could. Inwardly he felt a hint of trepidation at what he was about to say.

"I dare you to go into the NCIS database and pull up Gibbs profile."

* * *

The NCIS database was a place where agents with the right amount of clearance could go and look up other agents, operations, or cases. An agent's profile stated the obvious base facts; birthplace, birthdate, martial status, operational status. It also had every case said agent had worked, every operation they'd done, and even how they came to NCIS. And Tony was terrified of what they'd find.

After gaping like a fish for a few moments Kate had finally regained her senses enough to stutter out a flimsy excuse. Of course after some teasing and prodding from Tony she found herself agreeing. Never could let Tony get the best of her after all!

Now, Tony found himself standing behind Kate as she minimized the screen she'd been writing her report on, and pulled up the home screen. Secretly Tony was glad Gibbs had offered Kate a position on the team, solely because neither him or Gibbs were very tech savy. It wasn't that Kate was a computer genius and it wasn't that he was old. But, Kate had taken all the computer training courses and things like that the past six years, while he'd been a cop for four and with Gibbs for two. So, it was sad that without her he'd never even know where to begin pulling up the boss' profile.

"Is Jethro his first name?" He looked down to see Kate's face looking up at him confused, apparently it seemed she couldn't do this without him.

"Jethro is his middle name. His first name is Leroy." Sometimes it was hard to remember Kate hadn't been with them barely six months. Oh, was all she said as she continued to type.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Again the only sound in the bullpen was keys clicking. He watched as she finished typing in his full name and status and pushed enter. Neither of them spoke as they waited for the results to load. Momentarily he wondered what he was looking for, a neon sign that said _**'THIS IS WHY MY BOSS ACTS THE WAY HE**** DOES****'**_? If only he was naïve enough to believe it'd be that easy. Looking back at the computer he saw the screen begin to load.

First came a current picture, both of them briefly felt like turning back when they saw the piercing blues eyes staring back at them with a glare that'd make most men cry. Swallowing, Tony tapped Kate on the shoulder softly indicating she should keep scrolling.

Next came the general information, neither of them were interested in for the moment. Later Tony would realize that if they'd taken the time to check their bosses martial status maybe the upcoming years would've been much different. Continuing down they came down to three links.

"Tony?" Kate said distracting him from looking into more of what those links were for.

"Yeah," he said looking back at her.

"This isn't just a dare, is it?" Man, he'd forgotten she was also a good profiler.

"How can you tell?" He was honestly curious has to how she'd known he had an ulterior motive.

"Don't worry about how I could tell. Just tell me what we're looking for."

"Who say's I'm looking for something," he said hoping to get a rise out of her. Sometimes his little ol' Katie was so easy to bait. Though this seemed to be the time she decided to act mature and only glare.

"Alright! I wanted to see if there was something contributing to this recent mood swing of his," he said and waited for the reprimand. Only this time none came, apparently a sleepy Kate was a content Kate.

"OK," she said and went back to looking at the screen.

It took a moment but he finally realized that the links he was trying to decipher were years. The first one was _**1991-1995 **_the second one _**1996-1999**_** CLASSIFIED**, and the last one was simply _**1999-.**_

"What are these?" Apparently a sleepy Kate wasn't as sharp as an awake Kate. Not that he could blame her.

"They're years Katie," he said in a slow draw, like he was talking to a three year old. Before she had a chance to respond he pointed to the first group, he recognized 1995 as the year Gibbs got his own team. Which he only knew because of Chris Pacci.

"This first link is probably from when Gibbs started to when he got his own team," he said touching the screen. But, out of all three it was (of course) the link that was labeled classified that he wanted to see the most.

Kate clicked the first link and briefly scrolled a small ways down. Inside the link the page was divided into three heading; _Feed, Cases, and__ Pictures_. They clicked on feed, which was a general timeline of all both cases and pictures. It started with the year 1995 she only went to about 1994, the only thing that stood out being the many awards Gibbs had received in that year alone and some very gruesome case pictures.

"Hey, I don't think we're going to find anything on this one. Go back to the second link," he said.

"You mean the one labeled **_CLASSIFIED_**?" _'Wow, apparently even a sleepy Katie is still a sarcastic Katie.'_

"Yep," he said trying not to let any of his frustration show through.

"Ok, but don't be disappointed when we can't even get in."

"I understand but aren't you just a teeny bit curious to see why three years of the Boss's life is classified?" He sure was, one half of him wanted to see exactly why, but another more rational side realized that his boss had a very rough past when it came to his job. He'd seen the man's skills in the gym, and he was a bit uneasy of the fact that Gibbs still possessed those skills even though it had been quite some time since he'd been a Marine and had needed them everyday.

"True," was the only reply he got as Kate went back to his profile and tried the second link.

To their surprise a page like the one they'd seen on the last link came up. Only instead of three headings, there was only the one.

_Pictures_

"Click it," he felt breathless with anticipation.

"What do you think I'm doing." _'Someone's getting cranky again.'_

As the screen filled again with pictures he felt himself let out of breath he didn't know he was holding. On the screen were hundreds of pictures, of what looked to be surveillance.

"Tony?" He looked down to see Kate looking back up at him with a confused expression. Clearly asking whether she should continue or not, and later on if anybody asked him about his choice he'd say it was to simply see what these **_CLASSIFIED_ **pictures were about. But, if Kate were to question his decision the moment he made it the truth would've been that he had a gut feeling that what they were looking for was located in these pictures. That's was why he indicated for her to continue.

Slowly but surely the two of them continued scrolling through the pictures of animals, buildings, and people. Yet no matter what people they saw, a piercing blue-eyed glare never caught their gaze.

Down.

Down.

Down.

_Wait!_

"Hold on! Wait, wait, wait! Right there!" Staring back at them was a picture of three people. Two men and one woman dressed in formal attire were standing in the middle of a smoky ballroom. One of the men stood to the side; he was significantly shorter than the other man, and looked older. He was dressed in a crisp tuxedo with a bowtie around his neck and loafers on his feet, if you ignored the light brown and slightly white hair, the only thing that'd hint to the mans age would be the eyes. Eyes that held so much wisdom, peace, and a slight hardness that told you he could defend himself if need be.

To the left of the man stood the other man and the woman together. God, the woman was _beautiful. _She was pale but the shiny metallic material of the strappy evening gown she was wearing took away from that, and accentuated the vibrant red ringlets that fell down to her waist. That paired with the silver stiletto's and long legs made Tony wish he knew her name. Looking back up from the legs (from which Tony was unashamed to admit he was looking) his gaze moved to the bright emerald eyes that were looking owlishly at the camera. From a single look so many emotions were expressed; there was a hardness there that told people she was dangerous, there was also a cautiousness that Tony had a feeling was because of the surroundings, but there was a softness there that threw him. A softness that could only be described as, love?

Clearing his thoughts Tony moved on to the second man. On instinct he sized the man up; taking in the tall muscular frame, broad shoulders, and the bulkiness in the arms that was still seen while he was in a tux told Tony that while the woman could be dangerous the man was lethal. Like the other man, his tuxedo was crisp and the loafers shiny. After taking in the outfit his gaze traveled up to the hard angular face, cobalt blue eyes, and mop of graying black hair on top. The eyes. They looked familiar.

Next, he moved his gaze to take in the two of them together. Just from looking at them you could tell they were a couple; from the way the man's arms were entwined around her waist to the way the woman's hands rested delicately on his chest. They had this aura about them; the way the man was wrapped around the woman protecting her from everyone else in the room, you could tell that though the man protected her she was the one who guarded his back. They had each others sixes.

"Gibbs," he heard Kate say and with that he was back in reality. Quickly he straightened up and looked towards the elevator. Even though it was nearing two in the morning, this was Gibbs and his ability to sneak up on people. But, what was Kate talking about? Gibbs wasn't coming towards them. He looked back towards her, but she was staring at the computer screen.

"What?" _'Maybe she's more tired than I thought'_

"Gibbs," she repeated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She tilted her head back to meet his gaze, and thrust her finger towards the computer.

Confused he looked back at the picture. Without meaning to his eyes traveled back towards the woman. He couldn't help it he was just like any other male! She wasn't just pretty or even hot. Those words just seemed too artificial to describe her. Pulling his eyes away from her curves his gaze traveled back up to the man she was entwined with.

_'Lucky bastar-'_

He just realized where those eyes looked familiar from. He looked into those eyes almost every damn day.

"Gibbs," he breathed.

"Gibbs," she repeated just as softly.

Now against his will, his eyes moved back to the woman that was with a younger version of his boss. It made sense, she _was _a redhead. In an almost reverent fashion, his eyes continued to scan the picture. Taking in the details of the smoky background, he saw white linen table clothes, crystal wine glasses, the glint of pearls and diamonds, silky evening gowns, crisp tuxedos, beautiful women, handsome men. All together it created a very stunning backdrop.

Subconsciously looking for the glint of weapons, his eyes caught something shiny and moved back to the woman. Pale shoulders, shapely arms, delicate hands-

_'Oh, god no.'_

That something shiny was the light reflecting off a slender gold wedding band, that sat on a small left hand. Praying for there not to be another one, his gaze traveled to the unknown woman's hip where Gibbs left hand rested, and sure enough there was it's twin.

_'Ex-wife?'_

"Kate left hands. Look at the left hands," he hoped desperately that Kate would tell him he was seeing things.

"What?" He looked back at her only to see she was staring at the younger Gibbs. If he hadn't been so desperately worried he would've taken the perfect opportunity that had been presented to him and tease her unmercifully that she was developing a crush on her boss. Though for now he only wanted her to tell him he was crazy.

"Hands Katie!" His patience was starting to wear thin.

"What the hell are you- no! Wedding rings! Tony Gibbs was married!" _'Yeah, he was married Katie. Have you forgotten about the 3 ex-wife's?'_ In his frustration that she saw the rings too, he hadn't realized he'd voiced that thought out loud.

"No! Stop being a jerk for a minute! Don't you think it's a little weird that under the three years of Gibbs life that's classified he shows up in a picture, that's most likely from an OP, wearing a wedding band? If this woman was one of his ex-wife's then she had to of been an agent!" All this was said in a hurried semi-smug tone. Kate still had trouble with authority, and any chance that appeared to show to Tony that Gibbs wasn't the hero he made him out to be, she relished. Sadly he knew exactly what she was getting at. She wanted to prove that Gibbs had broken one of his own rules.

"We don't know that for sure. There's no proof that they were even married to each other." Even as he spoke he knew that it was all a load of crap.

"Tony come on. Look at the way they're wrapped around each other!" Kate tilted her head back to look him in the eye again. But, Tony wasn't paying any attention to her he was still staring at the picture.

"Tony? Seriously I know the woman's pretty, but isn't it the knowledge she could be one of Gibbs ex-wife's enough of a turn o-"

"Not her Kate. Look at the other man. Doesn't he look familiar?" It had hit him suddenly that while it was a given that the man with the blue eyes was Gibbs, the other man looked familiar too. He took in the short stature, the light brown almost white hair, and the eyes...

"Ducky! Kate that's Ducky!" Wow, he felt so stupid. Somehow he'd missed the first time around that Gibbs _and _Ducky were in the picture.

"Oh my god! You're right! That's Ducky!" She said it with such excitement in her voice that he almost laughed.

"Ok, well we know that the two men are Gibbs and Ducky, but who's the women?" The more he thought about it the more curious he became. Here was a gorgeous woman in a picture with the Bossman and Ducky, and yet she had no name!

"Is that all you ever think about? Pretty women?" She said it with so much venom in her voice that Tony almost thought she was jealous. Almost.

"Seriously Kate, you can't tell me you aren't the least bit curious. After all you were the one making goo-goo eyes at the Boss." Maybe he would take that opportunity.

"I was not! And I saw the way you couldn't pull your eyes up from her legs. You were probably undressing her in your mind."

"Me doth thinks the lady protest too much! And who could blame you? Gibbs was quite handsome. But, sorry Katie it looks as if he's taken. So aren't you the least bit interested in knowing who your rival is?" He plastered on a teasing grin, sometimes it was just too easy to bait her.

"Ok, first I'm not the least bit interested in Gibbs. But, I'll admit he was handsome. Now, what's your genius plan to find out who this mystery woman is?"

"Well, we obviously can't take it to Gibbs. But there is another person we know in this picture, the Duckman! I'm sure he'd consent to telling us a story." He felt a tiny bit bad that the last part was said with sarcasm. Kate looked up at the clocks on the wall.

"It's almost three in the morning. I doubt he's even still here." She had a point there, dejected he tried to think of a different method. Wait, didn't Ducky say something about staying late for a priority autopsy?

"Earlier didn't he mention something about staying late for an important autopsy?" Kate noticed that he had an excited gleam in his eye. She did remember Ducky saying something like that earlier.

"Do you think he'd still be here," she was skeptic.

"There's only one way to find out. Print the picture and let's go down," she didn't wait for him to finish before pressing the right buttons. He was practically jumping with excitement, if she didn't hurry he might run off without her or the picture.

"Ok, it's printing. Chill out and stop jumping." That made him slow the full out jumping to small bounces. When the printer ejected a dull paper copy of the picture, he took it and left Kate running to catch up with him.

When the elevator doors slid open and they stepped on, he felt a brief flash of uneasiness, before shaking it off and pressing the button for the basement.

* * *

**My motto: You don't like it. Don't review it. But if you hhave read my story What About Me? what do you want the sequel to be M or T?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This should complete Finding Out About Jenny. I decided not to include Abby or McGee, but I am going to make sure Ducky has a spot in it. **

**I always liked the fact that it was probable that Ducky was traveling over Europe with Gibbs and Jenny. So, I'm going to make sure that he's factored in.**

**Another thing Gibbs may seem a tad bit OCC, but who cares 'cuz it's my story!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own it.**

**SORRY IF YOUR NAME IS JAMES MOORE**

* * *

As the night wore on the elderly ME's movements grew more and more methodical. He'd been doing this process for so long that in some ways it had become a morbid routine. He no longer had to think about what to say or what stories to tell as he worked, and for some reason that saddened him.

Tonight the stories were about some of his more recent exploits, exploits that ironically seemed to include Jethro in almost every one. Sure other characters came and went as the years passed by; Mike Franks, Stan Burley, Chris Pacci, Balboa, Vivian Blackadder, even young Anthony had a role in some of the stories.

Memories flashed by in a blur of colors and sensations, through the years case by case operation by operation. Every year leading up to the present except three, 1996-1999. Those three years were some of the most interesting, most confusing, most dangerous years of his considerable lifetime. He couldn't say what exactly lead to this bout of reminiscing, but he did know that he didn't want to think about those operations tonight. He'd need a considerable amount of scotch in him before that would happen.

Shaking off that thought process, he continued on with his work.

_Midnight..._

_One..._

_Two..._

Around half past two he finally completed his task. It had taken longer than most other autopsies would considering the ME was working without an assistant, although most of the time that wouldn't have fazed him. Something different was bothering Ducky, call it a gut feeling, but he believed he would be talking about those three years sooner than he'd care for.

And as he shut the Corporal in drawer 182 he heard the _'swooshing' _he'd come to know so well. He was fairly positive that Jethro had gone home earlier and was now passed out drunk under his boat. Turning around slowly he felt his gut 'twinge' again, and as he saw Anthony and Caitlin standing in the doorway he had another gut feeling that it was time for the scotch.

* * *

Walking towards autopsy Tony had never been more happy to see that Ducky had a body on the table. He was all for barging in and heading straight into the questioning, but a hand on his arm restrained him.

"Tony, wait. It looks like he's almost done." Apparently Kate was the more restrained one out of duo. He highly doubted she was even fully awake. And he _so _wasn't up to arguing with her. So, instead like a good little boy he stood still and watched as Ducky slid the body into an empty drawer.

"Now, let's go in," she said, and guided him towards the doors.

The gentle _swoosh _sounded strangely comforting to his ears. They waited patiently in the doorway for Ducky to shut the door on drawer 182 and turn around.

"Ah, Anthony, Caitlin, I would have thought you'd gone home by now," if they noticed the shadow that passed over his face as he spoke, they didn't say anything.

"Well, apparently Gibbs has gone home and forgotten to tell us we can too," Kate took the liberty of replying. For some reason Tony had the urge to hide the paper clutched in his hand. He'd moved his hand as far as his jacket pocket before Ducky noticed. Tony thought he saw the older man's gaze flicker briefly to him, but it was so fast he couldn't be sure.

"That's Jethro. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you went home to catch the last few hours of sleep before he needs you in." As he spoke Ducky moved to the table they'd saw him performing on and started to sanitize the tabletop. Tony pulled Kate over to the one right next to it and casually hopped on, Kate mimicking the movement.

"Oh, well you never know Ducky. Especially with the mood he's been in lately," Kate was making this start to sound like an interrogation, and Tony didn't like it one bit. This was Ducky they were talking to!

"Still I'm sure he'd cut you both some slack," apparently Tony had judged the older man unfairly.

Ducky looked up into his eyes and suddenly he knew that the ME knew exactly what they were doing. It struck him that Ducky had seen the paper, though if he'd seen the picture he was still unsure. He decided it was time to just cut the crap and tell him everything.

"You want to know why we're here," all he received was a curt nod.

"We were actually playing a game of truth or dare a few hours ago, to help Katie here stay awake," he received a glare from the woman in question.

"And I was thinking the whole time about how bad of a mood the Boss had been in lately. So, when Kate's turn came around and she chose dare I got an idea. I dared Katie here to pull up Boss's NCIS profile." He felt like he was in kindergarten again explaining to the teacher why he'd pulled the pretty girls braid.

"And I'm assuming you went through with the dare, Caitlin. So, what did you come down here to ask me about?" The ME had a very bad feeling about this. There was so many things they could've found in Jethro's profile.

"When we pulled it up we found three links," Kate started the first part but she couldn't look Ducky in the eye. So at an impatient look from Ducky, Tony took over.

"One of the links was 1991-1995, I assumed that was when Gibbs was on Franks team," he paused long enough for Ducky to nod. His eyes guarded.

"Another link was from 1999 to the present time," pausing again he noticed how Ducky stiffened.

"And the last link was from 1996-1999, but that one was labeled classified." This time the change in Ducky was considerable. The man set down the tool he was cleaning and with a dark face turned to look Tony in the eye again.

"Am I right to assume you went to the link labeled classified, Anthony." Even Tony knew that was a redundant question.

"I still don't see why you've come to me," yep the scotch would definitely be needed tonight.

"When we clicked on the link; no cases or operations were available. Only pictures," this time it was Kate who answered. With a sigh Ducky went into his office. Confused Kate looked at Tony wondering what they'd said. He motioned for her to wait a moment, and sure enough Ducky reappeared seconds later with a bottle of scotch and three glasses. Silently he walked over to his desk grabbed the chair and dragged it over to the metal slab the two agents were seated on. With a clink he set the glasses down and poured a generous helping each.

"Show me the picture," Ducky said as he settled into his chair and took his own glass.

"How did you know we were here because of a picture?" All he received was a stare Tony and Kate called the 'Ducky stare' it was like the brother to the 'Gibbs glare'. Ducky didn't seem to be in such a great mood tonight.

"I'm not in the mood Anthony. Show me whichever picture it was you came to ask me about and stop pretending you didn't." Wow, he'd never seen this side to Ducky before. Now, he knew that hardness he'd saw in the man's eyes was real. He had no doubt that if the situation ever called for it, Ducky would be more than capable at protecting himself. After he thought that, it made the uneasiness settle in again.

_'What were those three years about?'_

Again he decided it was time to cut the crap and just show the picture to Ducky. That was the only way to get anywhere after all. His hand moved inside his pocket and clutch the paper again, pulling it out he thrust it under the other man's nose.

* * *

With a wary face, that on any other night would've made the man laugh, Anthony pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket and shoved it under his nose. With his gut telling him it was a bad idea, he reached out and took it. Cautiously he flipped it over.

And gasped at what he saw.

Right there in front of him was a picture, taken in a ballroom in London, England, 1998. The occupants of the picture were dressed in formal attire, and if Ducky hadn't been there himself he could've been fooled into thinking it was just a friendly get together, maybe even a company reception.

Though from the looks on young Anthony and Caitlin's faces, they weren't foolish enough to think that either.

"You want know the story behind this picture. Don't you?" It wasn't a question.

"We thought that the man on the side was you, and that the man with the woman was Gibbs," Ducky gave a wry chuckle. When Anthony mentioned the woman his face had lite up with curiosity, and a dangerous hint of, lust? It reminded fondly of the younger version of the man she was entwined with.

"Ducky, Gibbs and the woman are both wearing wedding bands. So is this one of the infamous ex-wife's? If it is and we're right thinking that this was taken during a classified op, then the woman had to have been an agent." He wasn't fooled for a minute. Anthony may have been there because of some twisted desire to help Gibbs, but Caitlin was only there to get conformation that Jethro had broken his own rule.

_'Oh, if only they knew.'_

With that he began the story that would change how they looked at Jethro forever.

* * *

"Some things aren't mine to talk about, others are so confidential that they were never to be talked about again," Ducky began and secretly Tony hoped this story would be as long as all his others.

"I'll start with identifying who the woman is for you Anthony. You don't need her last name, she's in some pretty high places now in the government, so I'll only say her first. Her name is Jennifer, but she went by Jenny." Jennifer, no, _Jenny. _For some reason that just seemed, right. He couldn't picture her a Debbie, or a _Kate._ He realized Ducky was continuing and tuned back in quickly.

"Before I go any farther. I'm tired tonight and I'm most likely making the wrong choice in doing this so none of what I say is to make it's way to the ears of Jethro. Am I understood?" Kate agreed quickly but Tony was slower to give his consent. No matter what, he hated keeping secrets from the Boss. Though eventually he gave his reluctant consent, and he meant it.

"Alright. You were correct in assuming that the two men were Jethro and I, and now you know the woman's name is Jennifer. The three of us, with other agents interspersed, were stationed in Europe for the three years of our lives that were labeled classified."

"Before I say what we were in stationed in Europe for. Remember that back then NCIS was a different place. Rules didn't matter as much as putting away the criminal did. And as you know, Gibbs is the best at that." Tony was suddenly worried about what they were doing in Europe those three secret years.

"Now, those three years were all one deep-cover assignment. That had us posing as a family, I was Jethro's 'father' while Jennifer and Jethro were husband and wife." While he spoke you could tell memories were threatening to overtake the older man. But that wasn't what either agent was worried about, Kate beat him to the punch-line.

"So, they weren't actually married?" Man the girl even sounded disappointed! Maybe she was secretly hoping for a whirlwind European love affair? Little did she know she was about to get it...

"Oh, they may not have been married legally but they were in every sense of the term. If you didn't know them you never would've been able to tell they weren't actually married. They had a closeness in their relationship that most married people never achieve in 50 years of actual marriage. Let alone three years of a fake one. I always assumed it was because of the nature of their assignments. It forced them to work together." Tony was vaguely happy that the marriage had been a fake. Though from what Ducky made it out to be it seemed like Boss had had an European affair. He noticed that the ME seemed to be avoiding the assignments that had led to deep cover operations for three years.

"Ducky, what were your covers for?" Again that feeling of dread flared again. Briefly he glanced at Kate to see that she was lost in thought.

_'Probably daydreaming.' _He had to grin at the thought of what she was thinking about. Though it quickly faded as Ducky started speaking again, he noticed he downed the rest of his scotch first. Tony had a feeling he was going to need his in a minute.

"I was there for my knowledge of the European culture, and my medical expertise. Because of the deep-cover, hospitals were only used in dire emergencies. Even then, after whatever surgery was needed, whoever it was that was checked in would be gone the next day. Holed up in some safe house the next country away." Tony was confused. He'd done deep-cover in the Mafia before, and even then he was allowed the right to a hospital.

"Hold it. I've done deep-cover before, granted not three years in Europe, but-," Ducky interrupted with a sigh.

"Anthony, our presence there was illegal. This wasn't just an undercover operation, this was Black Ops." For some reason that didn't shock Tony as much as it should of. It was the nature of the black ops that had him worried. He looked over to his right to see if Kate was paying attention yet. She was staring at Ducky with apprehension. Apparently he wasn't the only one who had a bad feeling about these,'ops'.

"Jennifer and Jethro were posing as an arms dealing couple, all the while performing, off the book, sanctioned assassinations."

Tony saw that Ducky had knocked back his second glass, and was reaching to pour his third. He himself knocked back his glass of alcohol, vaguely noticing that Kate had too.

I mean clearly none of them were dumb enough to believe that Gibbs hadn't killed before. He was a sniper in the Corps! But, to believe that for three years he had killed on the governments dime! He hated to think it of it like that. So, instead he used the coping method that never failed him, he put it out of his mind.

"It was one of the reasons Jennifer and Jethro had the relationship they did. Having to perform that kind of work made you very close to your partner. Not to mention, remember I didn't even do those assignments, and those were three of the most dangerous years of my considerable lifetime." Both the agents noticed the shiver that ran through the older man as memories battered him. Kate met his gaze.

"What were the Boss and Jenny like," Kate asked. She was trying and hoping she could get some of the good memories out of the other man.

"Ah, let me just say that they were lucky they had to 'play' the part of the married couple. They couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Sadly, that meant in the safe house also. Even though I saw more of Jethro in those three years than I ever wanted to, it also made for some interesting stories. For example; while we were in a safe house in Paris they had a particularly nasty fight." He blanched at the thought that he was about to hear of some of his boss' romantic exploits. But one look at Kate and you could tell she was enthralled.

"I remember that night because it was storming rather violently. And after about a hour of hearing screams and shouts from the kitchen I finally came to break up the fight. Their arguments did have a habit of becoming physical, which was never a good thing. After I came into the picture Jethro walked out of the front door and straight into the storm. For three hours I sat up with Jennifer waiting for Jethro to come home! At midnight I eventually gave up and went to bed. While I was getting ready for bed I heard a noise from downstairs. On instinct I peeked out my window that looked over the expansive front yard, and do you know what I saw Caitlin?" He looked over to see that Kate was listening to Ducky with rapt attention. He didn't care to hear some gooey lovey dove tale featuring his boss. But, apparently Kate was a secret romantic because her next words were.

"Oh, Ducky what did you see?" Man even her voice was breathy!

"There in the middle of our front yard stood the two 'idiots' kissing! They caught the flu the next morning and couldn't work for a week!" Ducky finished up with a fond chuckle. Both of them were happy to see that the other man seemed to be remembering some of the better times. Quickly he continued.

"Even though they were two idiots in love. Both had considerable tempers," Tony heard Kate's breathing hitch. He knew it couldn't be a whirlwind romance with a happy ending. Something had happened to keep Jenny out of the picture now.

"Ducky, why isn't Jenny in the picture now?" It looked like Kate could read his mind.

With a hint of trepidation Ducky thought about how he could answer that question. Truth be told it was a question he still didn't know the answer to.

"Those three years we went many different places, Jennifer and Jethro more so than me, those places included; Naples, London, Positano, the Czetch Republic, and where it all ended, Paris. In Paris we had our most dangerous OP. So, dangerous in fact, that they sent me back early. In case Jennifer and Jethro did not get out clean, they didn't have to worry about getting back to the safe house where I was at."

"To my knowledge they did get out clean. Their next orders were to return stateside. I was even at the airport to pick them up." Tony sensed the 'but' was coming.

"But, only Jethro came off that plane." Before Tony and Kate could barrage him with questions, Ducky raised up a hand to silence them.

"I'm not privy to the facts of why they split. They were so alike, and argued so frequently and fiercely, that for all I know they could've had a simple argument in the airport and just decided to go their separate ways."

Did he call it or what?

Kate was the first to speak again.

"They would've done that! You made it sound like they were in love. Like they were meant to be together! How could that have happened?" She sounded so disappointed Tony actually pitied her, she was like a kid being told Cinderella didn't exist.

"My dear, I have no doubt in my mind that those two loved each other. Still do to this day I am sure. But, ambition, secrets, and quite simply, fate were conspiring against them." Both agents noticed that Ducky's expression was of deep sadness.

After a lengthy silence Tony spoke up again with the question that was plaguing them all, "Ducky, what anniversary is coming up?"

Ducky's voice was somber when he replied, "Anthony, today is the day that Jethro got off the plane and Jennifer did not."

After that autopsy was silent. Each occupant, dead and alive, were waiting for the conclusion to the great love affair that was still unfinished.

* * *

It was close to a year after the late night discussion in autopsy, and the mood was close to the same.

Kate was gone.

_Katie _was dead.

Killed by Ari.

Slowly he walked into the bullpen. Taking in the absence of their newest teammate McProbie, and their Boss, he looked up onto the catwalk. Where two people were standing...

Automatically he recognized the silver head of their boss, and with him was a, redhead?

_'Who's going to be the lucky number four...'_

Slowly the boss moved out of the way and started down the stairs so that he got his first real life glance at the woman above them.

And he couldn't help it. He laughed. It was like looking back in time, or at least a picture of it.

Because that _redhead _was the woman he simply knew as Jenny.

It wasn't difficult at all to place her, she looked almost exactly the same as the picture of her. All she needed was an evening gown, diamonds, and a smile. And to be wrapped around one young Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

It seemed like fate was at work again, this time bringing the redhead and silver head fox back together again.

And if she was going to stick around, he'd have to remember to learn her last name.

* * *

**It's crap I know, but the plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone. You don't like, don't review**


End file.
